Page 13 - Sept/Oct 2020 Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine

for agency employees as fish and wildlife experts; and
increase access to aquatic- and wildlife-related recre- DARRIN HILL/ODWC
ational opportunities.

After determining those four main goals, planners
mapped out 17 objectives and 85 strategies to imple-
ment over the next five years to reach those goals.
The first year of strategic plan implementation was
ambitious. Planners chose to focus initially on 14 of the
most critical strategies. Each strategy was assigned to a
team leader, who then developed a team of employees to
develop action plans. Broken down by overall goals, here
are some highlights of the Wildlife Department’s accom-
plishments during the first year:

GOAL 1: Enhance Oklahoma’s Fish and
Wildlife Resources for Future Generations.
• Flowing Into the Future: This team was tasked with
encouraging enforcement of statewide water-quali-
ty standards and promoting the implementation of
instream flow management according to the best sci- WILDLIFEDEPARTMENT.COM
entific data. Staff was surveyed to identify the most
pressing water-quality issues in Oklahoma, and the
team developed an instream flow communication
plan to help build awareness and understanding of
the topic.
• Stewarding Our Lands: This team developed a
Management Plan template for wildlife management
areas that identified goals, objectives, management
needs, strategies, and accomplishments. Written plans
using this template have been completed for all WMAs.
The team has shifted to identifying and building GIS
(geographic information system) components for
each WMA plan. Once data entry is completed for GIS
features, a dashboard component will be developed
as a user-friendly platform for viewing data by WMA,
region, or even statewide.
DON P. BROWN/ODWC

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